“I don’t ask for the meaning of the song of a bird or the rising of the sun on a misty morning. There they are, and they are beautiful.”

– Pete Hamill

Johan Botha: Slanghoek Lighthouse aka "Bad Moon Rising"

This photograph was taken one Sunday morning, on a Mamiya 645 and 80mm lens, while out driving, scouting for images. As I drove along I came across the Slanghoek Lighthouse as the mist was moving in across the ocean. When finally developed the mist was totally overexposed and just white. As I loved the light in the foreground I decided to redevelop the image while burning in a dark dome to cover the sky while exposing under my enlarger!

“ Thai is not an instant cuisine, prepared with the flick of a knife and finished with a toss of a pan. It needs the cook’s attention, it expects time and effort to be spent and it requires honed skill, but it rewards with sensational taste.”

– David Thompson

With a selection of five authentic, flexible and flavourful Thai recipes you can treat your quests to the tastes of distant islands, without leaving the kitchen.

The customary way of preparing Thai dishes is the ideal way to spend quality time with family and friends.

I was woken up earlier today by a phone call from my very excited Mother.

She told me that there was a photograph and two articles about my academic achievements during 2011 in our provincial newspaper, “Die Burger”.

The South African Society for Oenology & Viticulture and Lallemand SA awarded me the Best Student in the B.Agric degree in Cellar Technology, at Elsenburg Agricultural Training Institute, for achieving the highest marks for Eonology and Viticulture during the 3 year course. Making me as one of only three students nationally to achieve this in South Africa.

A very proud moment for my me and my Parents alike!

Best Oenology and Viticulture Students Awarded (Die Burger: Landbou 27/01/2012)

For more information on SASEV or Lallemand please click on the following links:

This image was taken under natural directional ambient light from one window. Somehow the original image had a “floating” or 3 dimensional feel to it! Created on an Mamiya RB67 roll-film camera with a 90mm lens.

“All animals eat, but we are the only animal that cooks. So cooking becomes more than a necessity, it is the symbol of our humanity, what marks us off from the rest of nature. And because eating is almost always a group event (as opposed to sex), food becomes a focus of symbolic activity about sociality and our place in society.”

– Robin Fox, Food and Eating, An Anthropological Perspective

So how about it then, anybody feels like Thai?

By combining elements of several Southeast Asian traditions, Thai cooking places emphasis on lightly prepared dishes with strong aromatic components. . With over 40 ethnic groups Thai cuisine, as a whole, is extremely varied and features many different ingredients.

I have compiled together in a free e-book, a list of the most commonly used ingredients, so feel free to click the following link, E-Book: Thai Ingredient Glossary and print out the PDF glossary.

From Thai Recipes Part 2 onward, I will start posting Thai recipes that my wife was taught at a Thai Cooking School in Thailand and I have compiled together in three Thai cooking workshops.

The recipes have been selected, because ingredients is easy to find almost anywhere and they are easy to prepare at home.